New Novel:
I've begun work on a new novel which takes place during World War II. The working title is Sail on Silver Moon. The two main characters are German: Vala Luemke, an emigre to the U.S. who left Germany in 1935 at the age of fifteen and Gunther Wolff, the ship's doctor on a Standard Oil tanker held in port in New York city. Gunther and the rest of the German tanker's crew are left adrift in the City while receiving their Standard Oil pay for 18 months. When war is declared they are rounded up as enemy aliens. Vala and Gunther meet in an Enemy Alien Internment Camp in North Dakota where mystery and romance ensue.
I've written a draft outline and am currently doing research, which is fascinating, especially watching movies produced during the war years. Betty Grable in "Pin-Up" girl was pretty atrocious, but gave lots to work with in terms of fashion, night clubs, music, dancing - Conga lines! - and slang.
Fiction: Three completed novels.
The Silence of Sorrowful Hours, takes place before and during the Civil War. Angelise is a Swedish/French Creole Catholic girl from Martinique. After her mother dies, she and her father move to Pennsylvania where her father remarries a Quaker, and Angelise gets a big brother named Osborne. After Angelise and Osborne move to his Uncle Jonathan's farm, they establish it as a stop on the Underground Railroad. When the war breaks out, Angelise and Osborne - along with an actress and two fugitive slaves - carry out their own war against the South.
This book required considerable research, as you can imagine. Lots of books. Lots of online searches. Lots of Civil War movies and mini-series (some pretty crappy). In April 2009 I went to Gettysburg to do hands-on research. I stayed in a B&B that had been a stop on the Underground Railroad. I spent time in the reference section of the Gettysburg Library and at the York County Historical Society. There are too many Civil War experts to allow for any mistakes in my novel!
To read the first three chapters of The Silence of Sorrowful Hours, go to the e-publications page.
Prologue from The Silence of Sorrowful Hours
In September, the wilting heat was more oppressive and the sound of sluggish flies bzzzz-ing in ever-widening circles was more monotonous. The smells of ripe apples, horse droppings, and lime from the garbage dump were dragged on the wind. But in September, as well, a soft morning breeze could carry the scent of wheat chaff as it floated across her face. All of it conspired to remind her of years of Septembers. Osborne had gone to war in September. She pushed up the loose strands of damp hair that had fallen out of the combs holding her hair in place.
I Know You by Heart was completed at the end of 2008. It tells the story of two young lovers separated when the boy goes off to war. Their lives are fraught with missteps, tragedy, and sorrow, but each finds fulfillment by giving to others. Finally, many years after their first parting and a later attempt at reconciliation, they find each other again and forever.
Excerpt from I Know You by Heart
From the top of the dunes, Caroline breathed in the salt air and watched sleepily as a fishing boat moved out to sea. It was almost dawn; the moon had faded and white combers rolled into shore. She sat on the cold, soft sand, holding her knees to her chest. The boat, the coming light, the smell of brine and tar mingled to evoke something from the past, something that always lingered close to the edge of her memory. Wrapped in a sea mist, she listened to the waves breaking and rolling to shore. She could feel the sea’s breath, salty and damp. She closed her eyes and saw him, felt his breath on her face.
The Grass Beyond the Door is the story of a girl who grows up with an alcoholic mother and a remote and distant father. She learns how to navigate her difficult teen years by finding her own sense of the possibility of a life "beyond the door" and with the help of a young man with whom she falls in love.
Excerpt from The Grass Beyond the Door
She dreamed the smell of violets; the smell of freshly mown grass was in the air. A soft breeze sneaked across Johanna’s sleeping face. She made a mewing sound. Was it a night in April? Warm first, then rainy, crickets loud in the yard; the apple trees in the orchard were billows of white blossoms. The most beautiful day, the loveliest day, revealed just before it leaves you.
